It certainly is wonderful to be here with all of you today.
As you can see, on the screen, the title of our lesson is an
eternal weight of Glory. You might remember back in 2018,
about three years or so. I preached this sermon in your
hearing. Since that time, I've modified
it a little bit and I've tried to preach it.
Most of the places where I travel and hold gospel meetings.
It is passages that are perhaps some of the most encouraging
things to the child of God. I really know of no other
passage that is more encouraging than this.
So the reason for such a sermon today, I realize in 2020 we had
a year, unlike any other year that we have ever witnessed in
our lifetime. I can't go back and reflect on
things that I was not alive for. But in 2020 in my lifetime,
there are things that have happened that I had never seen
before. We have a global pandemic.
Have all manner of things. We have sorrows and regrets and
things that happen in our life. And sometimes pain and sorrow,
maybe perhaps of the loss of a loved one, may be literally or
even spiritually. So I realized that life is
filled with sometimes challenges and sometimes great pain.
So what I thought is today, I'd like to preach a sermon that is
an encouragement. I'd like to look to the word of
God today and perhaps less Study what Paul said.
And maybe just maybe we might have a different perception
about the life that we are living.
And all the circumstances that are found there in our passage
is taken from the book of second Corinthians chapter 4 and
beginning. In verse 16, these are the words
of the great Apostle Paul. Therefore we do not lose heart.
Even though our outward man is perishing yet our inward man is
being renewed day by day. For our light Affliction, which
is. But for a moment is working for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory.
Which we do not look at the things which are seen, But at
the things that are not seen for the things, which are seen are
temporary, but the things which are not seen are Eternal, you
know, I think that I am, I consider myself a positive
person, but I'm not positive all the time.
I don't think anybody can be if somebody is positive all the
time and every thought and every word and everything, the
probably a little bit fake in that regard because sometimes
there's negative things in life. So I don't know how you would
Define it Optimist or a pessimist.
But I think somewhere in between perhaps, there is a realist and
maybe that's where we stand. We're positive, we choose to be
positive but sometimes there are negative circumstances.
Sometimes there are things in our life that cause Us to change
our perspective, but I'll tell you this, we can't have the
mentality, that Chicken Little Skies falling, everything is
bad. We can't have that mentality.
We just can't, if we want to survive life, you can't choose
to be that guy. Now, I'm going to tell you, I
realized like our brother parade.
He is right. We have things that are around
our young people today, our children and we understand too
that perhaps it's harder for them maybe than any other time
of any other young people, I don't know, maybe it's harder on
them than it's ever been before and maybe that's true.
We have to be very careful to on how we speak about the future.
I want to tell you, share something that a young person
shared with me within the last couple of years and sometimes it
kind of made me reflect is, sometimes we that are older and
I'm now one of those that are older, I'm older now, okay?
So those of us that are older, sometimes, look from a negative
or pessimistic standpoint the view of the future.
This young person said to me this, I get it.
But remember, you got to encourage us, we have to live in
it. We have to continue to live in
this life. So when you talk about Glory
Days of a church of old and how great things were and how bad
things are be careful about that.
First of all, it's not true, it's not true.
Sometimes people say the world is worse than it's ever been.
That is not true. I know for a fact, it's not as
bad as Genesis chapter 6. Which the Bible says that the
thoughts of man's heart wherever evil, continually and God
destroyed the world with a flood.
It's not that bad yet, so maybe we can just change our
perception a little bit and be encouraging about the future.
I think there's a lot of wonderful people in this world.
I really believe that. Wonderful people.
I was a recipient of wonderful people in my lifetime and I
don't even know who some of these people are.
You've heard me tell this this little illustration but when I
had cancer, somebody rang the doorbell and I got to the door
and opened it up and there was an envelope filled with six
hundred dollars cash in a little note that says here's hoping
that this little bit could help you and your family.
I to this day, 11 years later have no idea who put the money
there. There's wonderful people in the
world. Folks, we need to focus on that
and the world. Is still standing today because
God knows those good hearts and perhaps we still can take the
gospel and save those that are lost.
Let's change our perspective, just a little and this view
things a little bit differently. So there's wonderful people in
the world. Yes, that's true, but it doesn't
mean they're necessarily saved. So all that being said, we do
have trouble and that job spoke of.
That job said, man is born unto trouble.
Jesus said so we shouldn't be alarm.
He said in this world what are you going to have trouble?
James said, we fall into various trials.
Here's my question. How can we endure the Pains of
Life, the great disappointments in life?
How can we handle all of that in the face of adversity?
How we going to do that? We go back to verse 8 of second
Corinthians chapter 4 and this is what Paul said, an amazing
passage. We are hard pressed on every
side yet not crushed. We are perplexed.
Flex, but not in despair persecuted, but not forsaken,
struck down, but not destroyed an amazing passage.
What I want to know is, how can we be hard pressed on every side
and not crushed how we gonna do that?
How are we going to be perplexed and not in despair?
How about persecuted? But not forsaken, how about
struck down? But not destroyed.
I want to figure out how to do that, don't you?
That's great stuff. How do we live like that?
How can we be afflicted? And not crushed and have all
those things in our life and yet it will not change us.
Well, let's talk about the Apostle Paul, who gave us some
secrets for enduring and I'll just say this too.
I'm going to say two things that I think are true.
Number one, sometimes we say nobody can possibly understand
what I'm going through. And sometimes our mindset is
that nobody's ever gone through. Anything that is as difficult as
I'm going through right now. You know what I've learned in my
54 short years of life. Number one, somebody does know.
Jesus knows if nobody else knows Jesus.
Does, he was in all points tempted like as we are yet
without sin. So if you think nobody can
understand how you feel, Jesus knows how you feel.
Number two, Usually when we're going through something that's
difficult, we look at our circumstance and we think
nobody's had it worse than us. I have learned this whatever.
I was going through in life, whatever negative thing, or bad
thing. If I was honest with myself, and
my eyes were really open, I found there was somebody who had
it worse than me every time. Somebody had it worse than I
had. Somebody does have things worse.
All these things are common to man, but notice what Paul said,
because this is what Paul had to endure.
Now, if Paul can do it, I guarantee it, we can too, and
we're going to find this passage in verse 9.
For, I think that God has displayed us.
That's the apostles last as man, condemned to death.
For we have been made a spectacle to the world, both the
angels, and to men what an amazing thing is, what Paul went
through and yet he said, this is where we are and yet he gave the
encouragement for perseverance. First of all, any Emser says the
word spectacle is from the Greek word theatron.
And failure defines it as a public show, a man who is
exhibited to be gazed on and made sport of.
Here's the illustration, it's by the way, it's where we get the
word theater and it's in reference to the open theaters
that went on in that time that we get all the way down to the
end and it would be the final act.
It was called the climax, it was called the spectacle and what
they would do is they would bring people and they would
strip them free of their clothing and they bring him.
Down to the battle floor. They The Arena floor and they
would release the beast, and the Beast, would eat them in the
presence of the people for their entertainment.
That was called the spectacle. You want to what Paul had in his
mind of what he had coming. The apostles, he said, were the
spectacle and if you look to the life of all the apostles, except
John, they all died a violent death.
We are last. We are the ones that are
condemned in that regard, not lost, souls condemned, but we
are going to have such great sufferings.
So I think we can understand if we can that there's a deep
awareness in the heart of Paul that made him.
Door. Everything he gave Heavenly
reasons for Earthly endurance. And so we go back to our passage
now in second Corinthians chapter 4, beginning in verse
16. But before we go into these
verses, I want to notice there are three Heavenly reasons for
Earthly endurance. There's one in each verse, and
before we look at those reasons, let me comment on endurance for
just a moment. Second Corinthians chapter 4, I
love this in the very first part.
Paul Begins by saying this, we do not lose.
Heart. That's the first thing.
And we already said all the horrible things, he knew he had
to go through, but he always said, you know, we don't do, we
don't lose heart. You know what?
I means to lose heart. It literally means we don't give
up. We don't get discouraged.
We don't quit. We're not going to be
faint-hearted. We're not going to let go.
That's how it begins. We're not going to do that.
We're not going to become weary and quit.
We're going to decide that no matter what happens in my life.
I'm not going to be unfaithful. I won't lose my boldness.
My bravery or my courage. How you going to do that?
Number one, you will endure when you value spiritual strength
over the physical. So this is how it begins, we
don't lose heart. Even though now this Better
constructed in the Greek with the word since in other words,
when Paul says the word, even though he's saying since and
when you use that word since or what it means you're saying, I'm
going to talk about something that is understood and known.
You get this, you understand this we don't lose heart.
Why? Since our own outward man is
perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed.
Day by day now. I've changed how I think about
age. When I was 24.
You've probably heard me say this, you know, me 30 years.
But when Darryl would Gene Brewer, my father-in-law turned
50, there was a there was a party at the park or something.
He's wearing this t-shirt says, I'm not old.
I'm a recycled teenager and it was for his 50th birthday.
And the picture that I saw was standing next to David Mackey at
by tree. You know, I thought that 24 man,
50 he is as old as Methuselah 50 is horribly old.
I mean that's one Graven, one foot in the grave.
Another on a banana peel, right? I don't think that way now.
I'm 54 I've already surpassed that by four years so I don't
say that. Same thing.
What I'm talking about is the outward, man?
What is the outward, man? It starts to, it's our bodies.
It's our physical characteristics.
It's even get this. It's the function of our brain
takes. What he was saying is I don't
lose heart, why? Since the outward man is
perishing but I looked To the inward man and that's being
renewed day by day. What a powerful thing.
And by the way, there's also age that is accelerated by
experience. Have you ever known someone that
perhaps lived a very hard life? And maybe they've really had a
hard time in life and you look to them and man they look really
old but they look way older than they really are.
And then you find out how young they really are your surprised.
You know why? That's age that's accelerated by
experience. Sometimes people can go through
that, you see somebody that's very sick and they age quickly,
we say that sometimes. Well, they've really age this
last year. Not chronologically, not anymore
than everybody else. But because of experience all
these things from the Physical Realm are wearing out.
But from a spiritual perspective, our inner man is
being renewed day by day. Do you remember when Paul said
this, I bear in my body, the marks of the Lord, Jesus,
incidentally, that's why he wrote to Philemon about the
runaway slave onesimus and he called himself.
Paul the agent. They were probably both 60 years
of age, but he Saying that I bear in my body, the marks, Lord
Jesus, therefore I'm calling you.
I'm writing to you as Paul the agent, okay?
I want to talk about the scars that Paul had.
He was beaten. He was persecuted.
He had to endure great suffering and when he said as they stoned
him and they thought they left him for dead, they thought he
was dead and as they scourged him and whipped him and beat
him, he had literal scars on his body.
And when he said, I bear in my body, the marks of the Lord
Jesus, he meant literal marks. So what about us because nobody
beats us like that. Nobody beats on this like that.
What about us? Do we have scars?
How about this? When you suffer for doing,
what's right? When you are a young person and
your friends want to do something that is wrong and
sinful and you know, that and you stand opposed to that action
and you refuse to give in to it. And you do what's right?
And your made fun of that's a scar.
When you have a job and you don't get a promotion because
you refuse to forsake the assembly, on the Lord's Day
morning because you have an appointment with your Lord that
day. And you're persecuted for that,
you don't get the raise, maybe you get fired.
That's a scar every time you do. What's right?
And you're made fun of and your criticized.
It's a scar. so, I thought this, when I wrote this sermon about
scars, What if one day? As life is over with and I have
a conversation with the Lord. What if the Lord said to me?
Let me see your scars. Would I have any?
And then I got to thinking, you know, if I live my entire life
and from a spiritual perspective, I have no scars at
all. Could it be that?
I've stood for nothing and lived a life of compromise at every
turn? When you stand for something,
the Bible says those that will live Godly will suffer
persecution. Is this the way that it is?
Paul says, I don't care about all that.
You know why? Because God's work on the
inside. God made him a man of endurance.
What's the inner man, though? The inner man is the heart.
It's the soul. That's the real self.
And, by the way, that's why. When we go to a funeral, And we
stand there and we reflect on the life of an individual who is
in a casket somewhere and all that is the casket is just the
how it is a container housing, the outward shell, that's not
the person. And by the way, that's why we
say that that person is still as alive today as they ever had
been, they're just not here. Why?
That's the N word self? That's the inner man, that's the
soul. That's the real self.
That is you? Paul said, I'm not concerned
about what happens to me, physically.
I'm concerned about what happens to me, spiritually.
And when I'm physically weak, I am spiritually, strong.
Do you know why that is? Do you know why?
When we go through physical weakness?
That is our time that we can be the greatest strength in our
life. Of all the years of our life, we
can become stronger than because the pains in life and the
troubles and trials contribute to our inner strength and do you
know why they drive us to God? See, it's not our own personal
strengths. That's from God.
Okay. Little side note here, remember
911. I had a private bible study this
last week and this came up. Studying with the family, this
came up about 911. And the whole idea came up about
9/11 when our country has such a horrible thing happen.
Terrible thing, terrible tragedy awful, terrorist attacks,
terrible stuff. People started talking about
God, even people that didn't profess to be any particular
religious affiliation. They started talking about God,
people started trying to pray to God and talking to God.
You know, what else people actually became Kinder and nicer
to each other. Unfortunately, it's only a
matter of time that people forget and then they drift back
to their old ways and old behaviors and so forth.
But you know what, in the midst of trial in the midst of
suffering, in the midst of hard times, that's a time that people
are drawn to God and God can strengthen us and only he can.
So you will endure. Paul is saying when you value
the inner man over the outer when you value spiritual
strength over the physical but also this Another secret of
endurance is. A second Heavenly reality is
looking at trials. Paul said this you will endure
not only when you value the spiritual over the physical but
when you endure the value of the future over the present, I love
with Chris parade today. He talked about things in the
present. And there's a difference between
things that are in the present and things that are coming in
the future. That's what Paul said.
He said, it's just for the present and this is what he
calls it. By the way, he calls it, our
light Affliction, it's for a moment.
What else is it doing? It's working for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of Glory.
So first of all, he Towers over his troubles because all of his
troubles are making him spiritually strong but also
they're gaining for him. A greater weight of eternal
glory. In other words, the more
sufferings he endures. The great, the greater the
weight of Glory becomes notice. I thought this was, I found this
and I thought, man, it's the point I want to make this
represents the sufferings in life.
That's what Paul saying, the greater the sufferings in life
and man they're piled on us. But you know what?
He calls it, he calls it, light Affliction, the man that born
his body, the marks of the Lord Jesus he got it was light
Affliction. Okay, this right here is all the
sufferings in life that you endure as a Christian as a child
of God, all the pain. The more you got it over here in
the more you endure over here, the greater, your Eternal weight
of Glory. This is heavier than the trials
that you will have in your life. And the sufferings you will have
in your life, amazing on this. It's swings the scale for him.
Paul said, Romans 8, and chapters, 18:17 listen to this.
If indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified
together. One more passage Romans chapter
8 and verse 18, for I consider the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory, which
shall be revealed in u.s. Okay.
Couple things. This is obviously talking about
the reward part, okay? And it's true that in Revelation
2, and verse 10 writing to the persecuted church called Smyrna,
the Lord said this you're going to have tribulation ten days
short amount of time, but be faithful unto death and I will
give you a crown of life. So it is true that when we
endure and we patiently endure to the end, it is true.
We're going to have eternal life.
The reward part. And I used to think that this
passage that is under consideration for us today was
just simply meaning that about this eternal weight of Glory.
That it was just talking about our reward but it's so much more
than that. Paul said, our sufferings
contribute to eternal glory. So the question is this, then
what is it? What is eternal glory?
Eternal glory is our capacity to serve praise and glorify God in
heaven. Okay, that's the Eternal part.
We got more to say about that though, hang on.
But right now look, that's what it means.
The greater Your Capacity to get to the greater capacity to serve
and glorify, God is proportionate to your
willingness to suffer as a Christian for him.
The heavier, the sufferings, the greater, the Eternal weight of
Glory. So this is it.
It's about glorifying God in heaven and we increase our
capacity to do that. That's the Eternal part, more in
a minute. So, it is our return.
Our eternal glory is measured out in relationship, to our
willingness to suffer. And, you know, really that goes
against our grain, right? Nobody wants to suffer.
Little Point here because I do it too.
Man, we all do it. If we have something that's hard
for us you don't we do we beg God to take it away.
I do it too. And I'm not saying you shouldn't
ask God to take it away, not saying that at all.
I'm saying that if God says no and will not take it away, then
maybe we should spend more time saying if not then give me the
strength and the courage to endure.
It give me the strength to endure.
That's really the point. I think in our life, give us the
strength to endure. all that will live Godly will suffer
persecution 2nd Timothy chapter 3 in verse 12 in First Peter
chapter 1, notice this In this, you greatly Rejoice that for now
in a little while, if for now a little while, if need be, you
have been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of
your faith being much more precious than gold, that
perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise
honor and Glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
An amazing passage or what Peter saying, they're the genuineness
of our faith is demonstrated or shown by our ability to endure.
And persevere no matter what. And when are you going to get
the reward at the appearing of Jesus Christ?
That's heaven. When the Lord comes back.
That's that part, right? So there's a relationship though
between suffering and glory and that's exactly what Paul looked
at. I don't want to minimize pain, I
don't want to do that. I don't want to minimize
suffering. I don't want to do that either
because I guarantee I'm a human too.
And, you know, when you think you can your bulletproof and you
can handle anything, you know, when that is in your life, when
you're about 18, Maybe early 20s.
Sometimes we go a little longer with our immaturity and we think
that we're bulletproof, and we're all he can't.
I even said things, I was a kid with this is the dumbest thing
ever can't hurt Steel. No, you pour water on it.
Make it rust though. Sometimes in our mindset, we
have that mindset, but we are all week before the Lord.
And when we're physically weak and we were weak that way we can
approach God, and God can give us the strength.
So pain is pain and it's real Christian Science.
Is not true to its name in the Christian Scientist religion,
they say this, they say there's no such thing as real pain and
real suffering. There's only the perception of
pain. How in the world?
Could you ever believe that pain is pain?
Pain is real. You know, Christian Science is
not true to its name and any Christian ain't science.
It's kind of like Grape-Nuts, right?
And grapes and any nuts and it tastes like wood.
Not true to its name. Yeah, pain is real, folks.
Please understand. I'm saying that the scars of
scar. Defamation of character is
defamation of character. It's real.
You know, what Paul is saying? He's not saying it doesn't
exist. He's saying it doesn't matter.
He's saying it's doesn't matter, it's momentary.
He called it as a light affliction.
It's a big deal but it doesn't matter.
It's producing for us an eternal weight of Glory, has a positive
effect. The more that I suffer the
greater my eternal glory. That's right, there are
connected and it's producing an eternal weight of Glory.
Now it tips the scale in our favor.
So, What does it mean? Eternal, glory means this.
We have a greater capacity to pray serve and glorify God.
Now I want to say this though. About the very fact that
enlarges our capacity, I want to say this though about our
reward. Our reward is not different.
Don't ever think that if you had to endure tough stuff that
you're going to get a greater reward in heaven because you are
not, Jesus said in the parable of the vineyard, everybody's
going to get a penny. A Denarius.
A day's wages, not that you've earned it, but it is by Grace
given and whether you served in the vineyard all of your life or
came in at the 11th Hour, you're still going to get the same
penny. So the idea is that you're going
to have a greater reward in heaven because of the things
that you endured here. It just means this it enlarges
our capacity to serve God and it happens even in this life.
Years ago. I knew of a man that had some
terrible things happen to him, and I had to witness all of
that. And I remember as a young person
thinking how awful that was and you really feel sorry for the
person that's enduring such a thing, right?
Because that's a human being, that we are as human standpoint.
And somebody said this and I never had thought of this.
I was in my twenties at the time but somebody said this he said I
can't wait. To see the man that he will be
on the other end of this trial. I never looked at it like that
he was he was looking at like this.
Even in this life it'll increase your capacity to serve God and
make you even better right now. Because of what you endure right
now. And by the way, it's not
something you get rid of, it's something you take all the way
to heaven and increases your capacity in that way. so, What's
the difference between trials and suffering?
What's the difference? Okay?
In James chapter 1, verses 3 and 4 my brethren count, it all joy,
when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing
of your faith. Produces patience but let
patience have. It's perfect work that ye may be
perfect and complete lacking, nothing.
What's the difference? Then.
The difference is this trials, increase our ability to
persevere. Suffering increases our capacity
to serve God. When I talk about suffering
though, I'm not talking about suffering the consequences of my
bad choices. I'm not talking about that
because you know what, if I make a bad choice and I suffer the
ramifications of that, bad choice, That's just the
consequences of my bad choice. I have that coming.
That's not what Paul is talking about.
That's not what the Lord ever talked about.
What I'm talking about is I'm talking about things, that
glorify God. We understand that suffering as
a Christian things, you go through in this life, all of
that stuff. That's true.
Okay, but there's something else, and please get this
because I think this is very important.
It also includes when something bad happens to you.
You don't give up, you don't chicken out.
You don't say I quit. You still put your faith and
trust in God. You still honor his son, you
still worship. God, you don't give up.
You don't quit, you don't walk away.
When you do that, you take what was a scar and now you move
forward and it's become a greater Eternal weight of Glory.
You have it forever. Paul tells us and it was
secretive endurance. You will endure when the u-value
Eternal realities over temporal. Second Corinthians chapter 4.
Okay. Now, notice this in summary,
we're almost finished. We don't lose heart.
Why don't we lose heart Paul? Why?
Because our outward man is perishing.
We know that yet the inward man is being renewed, day by day.
We know that that's the reason. What else these light Affliction
is there? No big deal because of what's
coming there? Just for a moment.
It's working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
Glory. While we do not look at the
things which are seen, But at the things which are not seen
for the things which are seen are temporary but the things
which are not seen are eternal. What an amazing.
Amazing Passage. Sometimes people today.
And I really do believe this, I really do believe that there's
more people looking for a church.
Than looking for the truth. And the reason for it is they're
looking for a religious organization.
That makes them feel better. I think there's a lot of people
that are looking at what they get.
But in Christianity, in Christ, it's not about what you get,
it's about what you give. So we might not have an easy
life and it may be difficult. That's okay.
It increases our capacity to serve praise and honor God in
this life. As we live we could become a
better servant and after this life too.
In heaven. Now in this last phrase here, it
says while you the opposite while we do not look, the
opposite is while we do. Look, I think it's so important
that we focus our minds and let our and let our eyes be single.
You know, it you have to stop doing something just to do
something else. It's opposite.
You got to do that. What is he saying?
We don't look at the things that are are not seen.
So, you know, we got to look at, we don't look at the things
which are seen. We have to look at the things
which are not seen. You've heard that little phrase
that I used as a coach Clear Eyes.
Full Hearts can't lose. If you have clear eyes, and
you're focused eyes, and your eyes are single and you're
focused on that you're focused on that goal, that's what Paul
is saying. My focus is on that which is not
seen. That is eternal.
I'm looking past all this stuff. That's number one, number two,
if I got a full heart, you know, that means I read my heart of
all the bitterness hatred, all the negativity, all of that
stuff. I get rid of it and I fill it
with a love for all that's good. If I do that, and I got Clear
Eyes and a full heart, I cannot lose because I've done all that.
I possibly can do. I become the greatest version of
me? And that's all that any of us
could ever do. Folks, I'm going to tell you,
I'm going to tell you that, in our life, we're going to have
hard times. We really are.
And sometimes we just need to encourage each other to stay in
the fight. It will be worth it.
And when Paul wrote to those Smyrna, I mean Jesus wrote to
those Smyrna, he said be faithful unto death.
That means this be faithful. Even if it takes your life, even
if it cost you your life. I'm going to tell you one day,
one day, it'll be worth it all. And I guarantee you this to
anybody that's ever passed away and there in Paradise right now
they know where they are. And as much as we may miss them,
they wouldn't come back if they could.
They made it. And they're just waiting for the
Lord to come back to get the home in Hammond.
We can make it. It's going to take all of us.
Let's be better than we've been. That's be all that we can be for
the cause of Christ. I'm through this morning.
Thank you so much for your kind listening.
And I hope in this little sermon.
This was a way to encourage all of us.
To persevere and endure until the end and it will be worth it
all. Increase our capacity to serve
God, we thank you for listening to our podcast, put on by the
Church of Christ at 22:15 plans. Road in Bakersfield, if you
would like any additional information or you would like to
receive a free Bible correspondence, course by mail.
Please email us at info at True Church of Christ.
Bakersfield.com. Our service times are Sundays at
10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. please
make plans to join us. We would love for you to be our
honored guest